Why ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ will be the best show to air this fall

There are going to be a lot of great shows airing this fall. Some oldies-but-goodies will return, and there are even a couple of spinoff shows, which I always enjoy watching if I like the original.

There are going to be some new shows too, but I’m throwing down the gauntlet right now: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to be the best one.

If you haven’t seen the promo yet, watch it here:

Reasons why ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is going to be AWESOME:

1. It’s a spinoff of The Avengers. I mean, you kind of can’t go wrong if you’re basing your show off of the third highest grossing movie of all time, right? People love The Avengers for about a million reasons, and even though nearly all of the characters from the film won’t be involved, it’s still based in the same world. And that’s definitely something to be excited about.

2. It’s a TV show. I’m a huge movie buff, but sometimes television just kind of trumps film. Would you rather have a two hour movie, or a 22-episode season? I guess that would depend, but in this case I’m super excited this wasn’t turned into a spinoff movie, but a spinoff show instead. We’re going to be able to get so much more action and information now, and it’s going to be amazing! I’m sure it’s going to go on to see many seasons.

3. COULSON LIVES. “I’m clearance level six. I know that Agent Coulson was killed in action before the battle of New York.” *Coulson emerges from the shadows* “Welcome to level seven.” YEAH, THAT JUST HAPPENED. It was so heartbreaking when Coulson died in The Avengers, so I’m so glad to see him back. I knew he was involved with the show, but I thought this might take place pre-New York Battle, but it’s not! He’s going to add so much to this series.

4. It’s got it all. Action, comedy, mystery, supernatural elements. Seriously. We’ve got some kickass characters (they are spies, after all), some hilarious lines (I want to walk around quoting “Don’t touch Lola” all day), some intriguing story lines about the protags and antags alike (“S.H.I.E.L.D. Government. Scary men in dark suits that come after guys like you.”), and we’ve also got some superheroes. The latter is probably what I’m anticipating the most because we’re going to be able to see a lot more characters than just the ones in the movie. Yay!

5. Joss Whedon is involved. Whedon is like King Midas of the movie and television industry. At this point, it’s like saying, “Yeah, Chris Nolan is directing,” or “Yeah, Morgan Freeman is starring.” You know it’s just going to be out of this world. Whedon has a great record with television (well, according to the fans, at least), and this is going to be exactly his element. I wish he were MORE involved, but as of right now he’s sort of overseeing it and directing the first episode. Good enough for me!

Honestly, there’s about a hundred other reasons why I seriously can’t wait for this show (not least of which is that Melinda May looks completely amazing and whoever plays Agent Ward is, whew, *fans self*), but these are the big ones. I was excited before, but the premiere is better than I ever could have hoped it would be. It’s just…ahhh…*flails*

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up for me.

Are you excited for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Will you be watching it? What are you most looking forward to?

How much does an artist ‘owe’ his or her fans?

I’m totally going to preface this by saying it was brought about by the whole Sterek phenomenon with Teen Wolf, but I don’t want to make this about that in particular. (Mostly because the Sterek shippers can be a little intense. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was a little frightened of them.)

But let’s take a look at this on a wider scale.

Say you’ve written a book. Because this is hypothetical and we all love to dream, say it’s your debut book. It does well. Really well. Like, New-York-Times-Best-Seller-seven-figure-deal-and-a-movie-adaptation-in-the-works well.

Hey, it’s happened. Once or twice.

Okay, so you’ve published your book. Fans love it. You have a kick-ass heroine and and a sexy hero. There’s action and adventure, romance and humor. It’s the real deal. You have a massive audience, and they’re clamoring for more. They want a sequel.

No brainer, right?

I mean, if you’ve got more story to tell, and people want to read that story, what’s there to think about?

Not much. But I will ask this – to what extent do you owe your fans a nod in their direction?

Say they really want to see two characters together. You’re not opposed to the idea, and it would work in the story line, but you never really envisioned them together. But you’re fans want it. Like, they really want it.

Envision Tumblr pages dedicated solely to this ‘ship (that’s short for ‘relationship’ for you that aren’t in the know). Fan-fiction. Role playing pages. In depth meta. Angry letters threatening your life if you don’t pair the two of them together in the next book.

Whew. *deep breath* This business can get a little scary if you have overzealous fans.

Now, remember. You’re not opposed to this couple being together, you just never envisioned them as a pairing. So, what do you do? Do you put them together in order to please your audience? Do you owe that to them for loving your work so much? Would you be afraid you’d get more angry letters if you didn’t do what they wanted?

Or would you write what you wanted to write, and to heck with them? It isn’t where you intended the story to go and, by gosh, you’re sticking to your guns. If they don’t like it, they can find another book to read. This is your story, not theirs. You’re the creator, and you’re not going to be influenced by what other people have to say if that’s not what you want for your characters.

And this doesn’t just apply to character pairings. It doesn’t just apply to books either. I think I see it most often with television shows (think Glee). Sometimes the creators pander to the fans. The fans are paying the bills after all, right? So, why not give them what they want?

Unfortunately, or at least in the case of Glee, the story can suffer because of this.

Maybe fans wanted to see your character wandering off into the desert on a horse with no name, but once he got there, your audience decided the desert was boring. A horse with no name is boring. And now your character is boring.

Humans are fickle creatures.

But if you don’t listen to your audience, if you don’t grow and expand and learn from your mistakes, you run the risk of alienating your readers. And that can be a very, very bad thing.

So, what do you do? Put those two characters together and please your fans at the risk of murdering a perfectly good plot line, or do you ignore all those outside influences and stick to what you want to write about, even if that means your audience isn’t happy with the direction you decided to take the series in?

Or is there a balance? Let me know! Leave a comment, and let’s discuss this. (Also, if you’re familiar with Sterek, let me know your thoughts on that matter too.)

How to shock the socks off your readers, with Colby Granger from ‘Numb3rs’

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to be strong and go to prom, with Allison Argent.”

Warning: Spoilers for the show Numb3rs up until the season 3 finale! Also note that I haven’t watched any episode of season 4 or beyond, so if you know more about his possible arc (or lack thereof), please don’t reveal any spoilers!

I just finished the season 3 finale of Numb3rs and was completely blind-sided.

What do you mean Colby was a spy for the Chinese? What do you mean he’s been duping everyone for TWO years? What do you mean he’s been in cahoots with Dwayne Carter THE WHOLE TIME.

Yeah, I never saw that coming until it literally unfolded before me.

But why? And how can we incorporate this into our own writing?

First, it’s all about the character. Colby was a good ol’ American boy. He was in the army. He was a rookie FBI agent. He was a good guy. He did his job well, he was funny, and he got along with the team. He was a team player, he got stuff done, and he looked out for his friends – particularly his partner, David.

Next, you introduce just a subtle hint that something is kind of fishy. But make sure it’s not enough that your audience KNOWS what’s going on. Maybe it raises a few eyebrows, but by the end of the episode/movie/chapter/book/etc., your audience still sides with the character and believes him to be a good guy. This happened to Colby when one of his best friends turned out to be a Chinese spy. Don [Eppes, leader of the FBI unit] didn’t like the way Colby had covered for his friend, and still didn’t trust him after Colby had basically turned his friend over to the authorities.

Then you make it seem like everything is okay. The writers of Numb3rs let a few episodes go by before they brought it up again. Everything seemed fine. There’d be a hint of what had happened here or there, but nothing obvious. Nothing in your face.

Finally, blow the lid off the whole can of a worms. In the season 3 finale, Megan [Reeves, behavioral specialist] kept asking what was wrong with Colby. He played it off. Gave some good excuses. I believed him. Then, at the last minute, the bomb dropped. The Janus List was discovered, revealing the names of multiple spies. And guess which name was last on that list?

Colby Granger.

WHAT? Yeah, I was floored. Looking back, it does make a bit of sense. He did cover for his friend. Dwayne did say that he knew things about Colby that David didn’t. Colby was acting nervous and agitated near the end of the episode. I thought Don was just overreacting whenever he wouldn’t let Colby go out on a lead by himself. But it turns out I was wrong.

Or was I?

The jury is still out. I’m not totally on board with the idea that he’s a Chinese spy. We weren’t given a solid reason as to why, and it’s possible there’s way more going on than anyone realizes. I guess I’ll just have to get watching season 4 and let you guys know if if anything changes.

The point, however, does stand. The best way to shock your audience is be subtle. Don’t let them get to the point where they’ve figured everything out before you can reveal it to them. Doctor Who and Sherlock are really good at this. Then, once you get to the the climax,  at the last possible moment, rip the lid off of everything and throw caution to the wind. Don’t just give them some fireworks. Give them the Fourth of July Grand Finale Special.

Your readers will walk away breathless and wanting more.

What show or book have you watched/read that has really blown your mind? Have you ever gotten to the end of watching or reading something and felt like you had to go back and look for all the clues you missed the first time around?

Featured Video: ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ Inside Joke – Tapioca

Ever since the news that Whose Line would be coming back to our TV screens (praise!), I’ve had a driving need to rewatch this show. Luckily, you can find almost every episode on YouTube! Not only that, but there’s a whole host of accounts that put together great videos of your favorite games or your favorite hosts or even the best inside jokes.

This one is about tapioca of all things. My favorite part is when Ryan can’t even talk he’s laughing so hard.

Enjoy!

 

How to have a massively intelligent character without alienating your audience, with Charlie Eppes

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to turn a bad guy into a good guy, with Damon Salvatore.”

Numb3rs is an oldie but goodie (as in, it’s not on TV anymore) that I used to watch when it was live on TV. I never saw the whole show, or even a large part of it, but seeing as it’s on Netflix Streaming in its entirety, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stare at David Krumholtz watch it from the beginning.

If you’re unfamiliar, the show centers around two brothers. One is an FBI agent (Don) and the other is a brilliant mathematician (Charlie). (Don’t make that face. I don’t like math either. But this show is awesome.) Charlie consults for his brother and helps him solve cases. It’s a pretty basic plot, your typical procedural, but the writing is strong and the characters are dynamic and interesting.

I’m only through the first season in my rewatch, but I knew I wanted to write a post on Charlie and why he’s such a fantastic character.

You see, it’s easy to have a genius main character. They have all the answers. They can solve all the problems. They wrap up the plot in a neat little bow and look hella cool doing it. And that’s fine, to an extent. But what happens when that alienates your audience? What happens when the character is so smart the readers can’t follow along? It makes them feel stupid, and they end up putting down your book.

That’s what makes this show so great. Don is our second main character. He brings Charlie down to our level. He’s a good agent, but he’s not a genius, not like his brother. He often doesn’t understand what Charlie is saying when he starts spewing out all those mathematical terms that the average viewer won’t understand either. Don makes Charlie slow down and explain it in layman’s terms.

Without Don, the audience would say the show was too confusing and wouldn’t tune in every week.

The other great part about this is what Charlie does to explain the conclusions he comes to via his mathematical analysis. In one episode, he explains to Don that he can take the locations of various murders and use them to pin-point the area of origin – the area where the killer most likely lives. Instead of showing Don the equation and going through it step by step with him – which wouldn’t help, because Don (and the audience) wouldn’t understand – Charlie points to a sprinkler that’s sitting in their yard. Knowing where each drop has landed, he would be able to reverse their trajectory and find out exactly where they originated – where the sprinkler is located.

See, that I understand.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a clip of that scene, but here’s another one that does a good job of making math understandable and interesting:

 
The same thing happens in Sherlock. John Watson isn’t on Sherlock’s level, and when Sherlock has to explain something to him, he’s indirectly explaining it to us too. Sherlock by himself wouldn’t be as interesting or as engaging. He would mostly just be looking at things for a few seconds, telling the cops who did it, and walking away. At least with John there, he has to take the time to bring him into the loop, along with the audience.

So, how do you do this in your book? If you’ve got a super-intelligent character (ie. Hermione), make sure there’s another character that your audience can better relate to (ie. Harry or Ron). It’s not that your audience isn’t intelligent – and this is by no means me telling you to dumb down your story in order to make it more understandable – it’s that extremely intelligent characters often need an Average Joe to slow them down and tell them to explain their conclusions. Otherwise, you have something like:

*Sherlock walks into a room, looks around*
“Mrs. Pennyworth was killed by Mr. Jacobson with a curling iron and a box of tissues at 8:36 yesterday morning.”
*Sherlock walks out of the room*

Sure, that’s all fine and dandy, but it makes the solutions to the problems seem too easy and too obvious, even when they’re not.

Plus, let’s face it, most people don’t have an IQ equal to Sherlock’s. We need someone like John to make him talk in English.

Do you have a super intelligent main character? How do you make him or her relatable? Who’s your favorite smart person on TV? Have you ever seen Numb3rs?

How to turn a bad guy into a good guy, with Damon Salvatore

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to write a dynamic character arc, with Caroline Forbes.”

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve written anything in this series, but it’s always been one of the more popular ones, and I figured I should probably get back into it! Not only is it fun to discuss our favorite characters and see how their stories can relate to our own writing, but I really just have a good time talking about them in general.

Especially Damon Salvatore.

See, I figured something else out. You guys like it when I talk about Damon. He is consistently (I may as well just use the world “always” here) the top search term people use to find my blog. The previous post I wrote about him (“How to write about guilt, with Damon Salvatore”) was the first post in this series, and still gets hits each and every day.

And, hey. Who am I to argue with statistics?

Besides. Just look at him.

Damon is, of course, one half of the Salvatore brothers on The Vampire Diaries. When we first meet him, Damon is not a good guy. He kills people without remorse. He revels in the fact that he’s a vampire. He manipulates people. And he does everything he can to steal Elena away from Stephan, just to get one up on him.

But here’s the thing. Damon slowly becomes a good guy. We’re into the fourth season now, and he’s still not quite there. Sure, he’s loads better than he was back in season 1, but he still messes up. He still goes out of his way to annoy people. He still tries to take Elena away from Stefan. Except now he’s not doing it to get one up on his brother. Now he’s doing it because he loves Elena.

Now he cares about her.

And that’s the key. You can turn any bad character into a good character by giving them something to care about. It doesn’t matter what they’ve done in their past, as long as they’re willing to change and as long as they feel remorse. For Damon, the catalyst to his change was Elena.

It happened subtly. You saw him stop trying to manipulate her. You saw him (mostly) stop killing people. You saw him do things or not do things because he knew what she would say if she knew what he was up to. You saw him start actively being a better person, because he knew it was what she wanted (even if she didn’t know it yet herself!).

And in our writing, these subtleties must also be present. Girls love the bad boy, and I’ve read plenty of books with an MC like this. But the change can’t happen all at once. For most of these tragic, damaged characters, they’ve been living their lives like this for years. Most likely since they were kids.

I’m sorry, but no girl is going to make a guy drop his personality and change at a moment’s notice just because he has feelings for her. He’s going to screw up. And he’s going to keep screwing up. And he’s going to screw up again, until he figures out that he actually wants to change because it’s not only the best for the person he’s in love with, but also for himself.

It’s a beautiful story arc for any character – guy or girl. Damon is a perfect example of it because he’s still not all the way there. He’s not Stefan, not someone who automatically thinks of others and tries to do the best thing for everyone just because it happens to be the best thing for everyone. Damon isn’t as selfish as he once was, but he often doesn’t care what happens to a majority of the other characters, so long as Elena is okay.

He’s flawed, but he’s allowed to be. He should be. You don’t go from being a merciless vampire who doesn’t respect pretty much any human life to a fuzzy bunny of a vampire overnight. Life doesn’t work that way, and art is an imitation of life. We must reflect the flawed, complex, contradictory nature of humans (or vampires!) in our writing in order for it to be realistic.

Is your MC a bad guy (or girl) gone good? How did you pull it off? Do you like the new Damon, or did you like him better in season 1?

How to write a dynamic character arc, with Caroline Forbes

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to be neurotic, with Schmidt.”

Just about any writer can create a character that everyone will love. Like Ron from Harry Potter or Lucy from Narnia. They’re fun and likeable and endearing. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

But one of the greatest talents an author can have is to create a character that you dislike, and then slowly make you fall in love with them. I think The Vampire Diaries does this in a great way. Damon, especially, but even Rebekah and Klaus fall into this category.

But today we’re going to talk about Caroline.

When we meet her in season 1, she doesn’t seem to have a lot of (any?) redeeming qualities. She’s selfish, insensitive, insecure, bratty, and shallow. Although she’s best friends with Elena, she feels she has to compete with her for everything – Bonnie’s friendship, boys, and cheerleading, just to name a few.

As the season progresses, Caroline begins a relationship with Elena’s ex-boyfriend Matt. She starts to change as a result of this, but the old Caroline rears its ugly head more often than not. In the second season, Caroline is turned into a vampire. At first, she struggles with it, like all new vampires do. Her personality is heightened. Where she would have been quietly envious before, now she is furiously jealous. Her possessiveness and insecurities are even more pronounced.

But she starts to get a handle on it. She learns how to be a vampire and, oddly enough, how to really be herself. She becomes aware of her flaws and actively works to change her less than favorable habits. She becomes more confident in herself, and the rest of her personality (the good parts) shines through. She’s a strong and fiercely loyal friend. She’s one of the kindest and most trustworthy people on the show.

Caroline’s arc was well-played. It took the better part of two seasons for her to grow into herself, but it really paid off. She’s an integral part of the group now and does everything in her power to always do the right thing. She’s my favorite female character on the show.

So, how do we do this in our own writing? The first thing is to set up an unlikeable character. Pick some traits and apply them to this person, keeping in mind they need reasons to act this way. In season 1, Caroline felt she was second best to Elena at everything, and that’s why she felt inferior and did her best to have everything that Elena did.

Then something needs to change this person. They need a reason to grow and come into their positive qualities. For Caroline, it was becoming a vampire. She realized that the world was a much bigger place and that there were larger problems to deal with than who she went to the decade dance with. Though, granted, this was still a big deal to her! You can’t change their personalities completely – Caroline still has her flaws and there’s still a shadow of her former self in there, but you need to make us believe that the character has changed.

This change has to happen over time. Caroline struggled with her heightened emotions and personality for some time before she was able to get a grip on her cravings and outbursts. And when she changed, it was a marked difference from how she used to be. Even though there needs to be a touch of that “other” person still in the character, we need to trust that they are a different person now.

What do you think of Caroline? Did you enjoy seeing her change over the last couple of seasons? Is there another character you can think of who had a similar storyline? The first one that came to my mind was Cordelia from Buffy.

How to be neurotic, with Schmidt

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to be inhuman, with Cas and the Doctor.”

Schmidt from New Girl is one of the best characters to ever grace my television screen. He is completely obnoxious and ridiculous, yet entirely loveable. You care about him at least as much (if not more) than the main characters Jess and Nick.

But why?

How can you create a character who is a total basket case, yet still make your audience love him and cheer for him?

First of all, let’s see how you make someone completely crazy. We have to start off by praising the actor who plays him, Max Greenfield, because the way that he talks and his mannerisms are something that brings so much life to the character. I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Schmidt so perfectly.

Schmidt is a germaphobe. He’s vain and insecure. He’s an attempted ladies man/womanizer, but most of the time just comes off as creepy. He talks a lot of game but can’t always deliver. He’s offensive and disgusting, but doesn’t realize he’s offensive and disgusting. He tries so, so hard at life, but usually ends up either failing miserably or alienating the entire household. He has a recurring habit of saying douchey things and has contributed more money to the Douchebag Jar than anyone else on the show (or anyone else in the history of the world, to be honest).

It’s so hard to capture how brilliantly the role is written and played, so if you haven’t seen this show yet, just tune into a single episode. Schmidt is something else entirely and I’ll bet you won’t be able to decide if you think he’s annoying or amazing for at least the first few episodes. (I vote for the latter, obviously.)

So, how do we make this person likeable? How do you make the most exasperating character on the show someone that everybody loves? It’s not an easy feat.

It helps that Schmidt is hilarious and that Max Greenfield’s comedic timing is right on point. Everyone likes a good laugh and I’ll bet that he’s the reason many people keep coming back for more of this show.

Watch Schmidt in action:

 
But it mainly comes when Schmidt is being vulnerable. When he finally stops trying to put on a certain face and when he admits what kind of person he is. When he finally admits his loves for CeCe (awww!). When he finally takes a breather and says something that is totally honest and not offensive in anyway.

We cheer for Schmidt because he has at least one (if not several) of the traits we hate about ourselves. Despite his numerous shortcomings, we want to see him succeed because we feel that he should. He should have someone love him no matter how crazy he is. He should have friends he can rely on, no matter how awkward he makes their lives. He should be respected and liked because Schmidt, despite everything, is a good person.

And a good friend. He understands people, even if his advice isn’t always delivered with the right amount of tact. He sees things in people that they don’t see in themselves (ie. CeCe). And despite the fact that he is a little overzealous sometimes, he tries so hard because he cares so much.

As for our own writing, it’s important to note the wide spectrum here. Having a character who fluctuates from one end to the other at such a rapid rate can be difficult, but if you can balance the laugh-out-loud-at-how-completely-insane-he-is moments with the heartfelt, totally stripped down and honest moments, you’ll have a funny, interesting, and relatable character on your hands.

Have you seen New Girl? Do you like Schmidt? What’s your favorite Schmidt moment?

Fandom Thoughts [Supernatural/The Vampire Diaries/Sherlock]

I’ve been a good little writer recently (and a good procrastinator). I’ve been watching tons of movies and TV shows on Netflix. I never realized how much they can teach you about novel writing until I really started widening my horizons. For a taste of what I mean, check out my writing category and look at my “How to…” posts. I take a character and a trait from a TV show or movie and break it down to see why it works and how it can help us out as writers.

So, naturally, I’ve become invested in more television shows than I have time for. I’ve recently gotten caught up with Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, and Sherlock. This is a post about my thoughts on each show because I don’t really have anywhere else where I can ramble on and on about them. And, yes, that’s your warning. This is a ramble.

(Also, I tried not to give anything major away, but this post does contain some light spoilers.)

The Road So Far on Supernatural

I saw the first few episodes of Supernatural when they aired about eight years ago (whoa). I’m not sure why I didn’t keep watching, but I can only guess that it was because I was too scared to continue.

Yeah, I know. I have a low tolerance for scary stuff. A very, very low tolerance.

But I took it up again recently and watched all seven seasons within a few weeks, trying to catch up on the series before the eighth season began. I really enjoyed it. Without knowing much about the series to begin with, I got a full experience of the twists and turns and I was really taken in by everything that happened.

One of my favorite things about this show is that the story weaves its way through all of the seasons. What happened in the very first episode has ramifications that carry on to the most recent episodes. Some shows tend to have a single “big bad” each season and when you look at the first season compared to the last, the show feels completely different.

Not Supernatural. It honestly feels like you’ve been in the Impala for eight years, driving around with the Winchester brothers. Sure, they’ve grown up and things have changed. People have come and gone. Big bads have been defeated and new ones have popped up. But it essentially feels like the same show to me, and I love that. It makes it feel a lot more realistic.

The humor in this show is just out of the park. Dean’s sarcastic “sasshole” (<– new favorite word, thanks to my friend Caitlin) attitude just makes you shake your head and laugh. His one liners are so wrong sometimes, but I’d like to meet a person who can honestly not laugh at them. (“A Hand of Glory? I think I got one of those at the end of my Thai massage last week.”) And not only that, but there are some episodes (like any of the ones with the Ghostfacers crew in them) that you literally just can’t stop laughing at. One of my favorites was when Sam and Dean were trying to tell Bobby a story about a case and they were telling their version of the story (2×15 “Tall Tales”), which put each brother in quite an interesting light.

There are some things that I don’t like about the show. I find the constant fighting between Dean and Sam a little tiring sometimes. Not that it’s not realistic, but I’m so invested in them as a team that whenever one decides to leave, it really hurts. The human heart can only take so much.

My one other big quibble? We need more Cas. Like, seriously. Please? I find myself just waiting for him to pop up because I love him so much. His dead-pan face, his unintentional humor, and his deep caring for Dean just make me want to hug him. (Or “glomp” him, which is another new word I learned recently.) Can he just be in every episode already? My heart hurts when he is away too long.

Previously on The Vampire Diaries

I was pleasantly surprised by The Vampire Diaries when I first started watching it. I thought it was going to be a little too Twilight-esque (not that I have a huge problem with Twilight, but it’s been done so there’s no need to repeat it). What I found was a show that incorporated love, but also made sure there were tons of interesting characters, scary bad guys, and some awesome vampire fight scenes. Can’t argue with that.

My favorite thing about this show is Damon. Which, I mean…come on. (Debra, if you’re out there, you know what I’m talking about. We have pretty much the same opinion on this subject matter.) Not only is he incredibly easy on the eyes, but his character is also really fun and interesting. The other characters also all bring something to the table, whether they’re good, bad, or just enjoy making some trouble. Caroline is another favorite. (Expect a post on her soon.)

This show also genuinely surprises me. Very few shows actually do this anymore. Very few shows actually make me gasp out loud. I love twists and turns, and I love last-minute reveals right before the end credits come up. (Although, I say that having watched the first three seasons on Netflix. Now that I have to watch this show on a weekly basis, I’m sure this is going to be a major complaint for me.)

The first few episodes were a little hard to get through because “love” occurs so quickly between the main characters. But, you know, whatever. That’s a problem with a lot of television and movies, so I’ve learned to just accept it as unrealistic and ignore it. I’m also kind of over the love triangle thing – especially since I don’t agree with Elena’s choice (go figure). Also, is it just me, or does anyone else find Stefan incredibly boring? He got a little more interesting as of late, but I still don’t really care too much for his character.

What the heck just happened on Sherlock?

I’m going to preface this with the bad, and then get into the good because that’s how I have sort of made my way through this show.

I had heard of Sherlock through Hypable and through the people that already watched Doctor Who. Steven Moffat writes for both shows and since I already enjoyed his work with Doctor Who, I decided to take up Sherlock as well. And, as it was already on Netflix, what was there to lose?

The first episode was incredible. I was totally impressed by Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays Sherlock) and the way the character was portrayed. If you’re unfamiliar, he’s a “high functioning sociopath” as the character himself claims, and goes about solving mysteries and making people very, very angry. It’s a good old time.

But I also really enjoy how the show is set up. Text appears on the screen in order to show us what Sherlock is seeing when he views a dead body, or what kind of text messages the characters get. You’d think this would take you immediately out of the show, but it truly doesn’t. It helps to prove how incredible Sherlock is without an overabundance of explanatory dialogue.

The second episode fell through for me, as did the third. They didn’t seem to have the same punch and I wasn’t as interested in the mysteries. Maybe it was just me, as I’ve heard tons of people rave about the show for months and months. Perhaps I’ll do a rewatch to figure out if I still feel that way. All I know is that I watched the first episode and fell in love, then watched the second one and fell out of love.

Not that I’d drop the series all together. I knew it would get better and, well, I have a problem putting things down once I pick them up.

The second series just recently hit Netflix, so I sat down to watch the first episode, hoping that it would give me the same feelings that it gave me when I watched that series premiere.

It didn’t. It gave me MORE.

I was blown away by the first episode. I sat down to watch it and ended up doing a marathon until I finished the second series. (It’s only three episodes long, but they’re 1 ½ hours each.) The new characters were incredible and dynamic and interesting. Moriarty was everything that I ever wanted in a bad guy and so much more. He was completely insane and I loved every second of it. A truly, nearly undefeatable bad guy is so hard to find nowadays. No pre-killing monologues. No stupid revenge schemes. He really just wanted to ruin Sherlock in every way possible. He knew exactly where to hit him, and he hit him so hard that it knocked the wind out of the greatest detective of all time.

And Sherlock. Oh, Sherlock.

We got to see such a different side of him this series. He’s not completely emotionless. He does understand love. He does feel. His relationship with Watson is lovely, and the connection between him and Irene Adler was confusing, tragic, and yet somehow beautiful. I love this show because it’s so complex, but it’s non-apologetic about it. It gives you what it wants to give you and forces you to draw your own conclusions.

I’m pretty sure this show makes me smarter, too. After I finish watching it, I find I’m a lot more sarcastic and witty (to the chagrin of my friends, I’m sure). I also feel like a pseudo-detective, drawing conclusions from crinkled gum wrappers and empty glasses. I may not be as good as Sherlock, but that won’t stop me from trying.

And that episode 3 ending? Oh, that ending. Just wait for it because it’s beautiful and haunting and absolutely perfect.

[/End Rambling]

So what conclusions can we draw from this?

1. I have too much time on my hands.
2. I need more of a social life.
3. I spend a lot of time watching TV, and I will forever claim that it’s to become a better writer.
4. These shows are amazing.
5. I want you to give them all a chance. Get a Netflix subscription and start watching!!

What do you guys like or dislike about these three shows? Seeing as I’ve written an essay, long and rambling comments are totally allowed!

How to be inhuman, with Cas and the Doctor

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to be human AND evil, with Rumpel and Regina.”

I’m not exactly quiet when it comes to which fandoms I particularly enjoy being a part of. Supernatural and Doctor Who are certainly two of them. Within each of those shows, there are some favorite characters. Dean is obviously one of them – how could you not love his sarcastic dialogue and amazing one-liners? I miss and love Donna Noble, not to mention Amy and Rory, too.

But Castiel and the Doctor own my heart.

You can probably count the number of times Cas smiles throughout the whole series on one hand.

Cas popped up in Supernatural about half way through its run. It’s a new-ish character (at least, not as old as Dean, Sam, or Bobby), but he made quite an impact. At first you’re not sure if he’s a good guy or a bad guy – or, rather, a good guy with interests that don’t involve keeping Dean and Sam alive. But he slowly grows on you as he becomes more and more aware of how amazing the human race is.

The Doctor is an alien that travels all across space and time. He visits different galaxies and planets like we visit our local grocery story. But he seems to have a particular affinity for Earth. He loves the human race – we have so much potential, so much greatness flowing through our veins. And although he’s run into plenty of people that don’t live up to that standard, he never gives up hope for us as a whole.

Neither one of these characters is human, yet they have to interact with humans on a daily basis. This often leads to plenty of hilarious situations, particularly because neither one truly knows how to act human. They’re like foreigners on steroids – it’s a little obvious they’re not from around here.

Castiel’s voicemail message: I… I don’t understand… Why do you want me to say my name? (sound of random phone buttons being pushed)

Take Cas, for instance. He just about never shows emotion. He doesn’t understand sarcasm. And he doesn’t know about that little thing called personal space. The writers make his inhumanity obvious by putting him in situations where he wouldn’t understand what’s going on. It’s not giving him wings and a white robe to wear to make him seem inhuman – it’s more about making it subtle.

This is where the latest version of the Doctor discovers his favorite food – fish fingers and custard.

This goes with the Doctor as well. He’s an alien, but he looks just like one of us. So how do you make him seem alien? It’s in the way he acts – his insistence on kissing a person’s cheeks when he meets them, whether or not the occasion calls for it. It’s also about what he doesn’t know – like modern currency. Giving someone a million dollars to rent a flat for a few weeks? Sure, why not? He’s also never surprised, not matter what kind of alien race he’s bumped into this time. Where humans would probably run screaming for the hills, the Doctor just sits there and marvels at the creature he’s discovered.

Craig: Where did you learn to cook?
The Doctor: Paris in the 18th century. No, hang on, that’s not recent is it? 17th? No no, 20th. Sorry, I’m not used to doing it in the right order.
Craig: Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit weird?
The Doctor: They never really stop.

If you’re writing a book about aliens, it’s not always about the big grand spectacle. Sometimes it’s about the subtle things, the little hints that this person might not be who we thought they were at first. It’ll keep things fresh and allow you plenty of moments for hilarity – a winning combination in my book.

Do you like your favorite inhuman characters armed to the teeth with tentacles, or do you prefer someone like Cas or the Doctor? (Also, share your favorite Cas & Doctor moments in the comments!)